Wellbeing, Happiness and Health SIG

The SIGWELL design community has an interest in advancing knowledge, and the development and application of design research in the broadest sense to improve the personal and societal wellbeing, happiness and health of people.

This is a multi-disciplinary problem which requires a community to come together. Together we can do more than one discipline alone. SIGWELL therefore positions itself as a community whereby those with expertise in design, psychology, engineering, architecture, human factors, technology development, HCI, healthcare and other disciplines can come together to nourish the interdisciplinary of the domain.

The remit of SIGWELL is wide-ranging; including the design of experiences, interactions, technologies, products, environments, services and systems for wellbeing, happiness and health; developing understanding of how design impacts upon wellbeing, happiness and health (and other emotional states); and the development of new tools, methods and approaches. Looking at how Design for Wellbeing can have impact in the commercial world is also of interest.

We are interested in furthering activity which has the potential to make tangible impact on design research, education and business. This requires generating opportunities for collaboration, to exchange ideas, build networks and share interests.

SIGWELL is convened through an international board. The Chair is Ann Petermans from the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium. Other board members are Rebecca Cain, Pieter Desmet, Leandro Tonetto, Deger Ozkaramanli, Marc Hassenzahl, Tiiu Poldma, Anna Pohlmeyer and Matthias Laschke.